Broadstairs Seaside Kitchen

The Backstory

We recently completed this gorgeous bespoke kitchen for a lovely family in Broadstairs! Our client Nicola and her family underwent a renovation and wanted a simple and beautiful kitchen to become the heart of their home.

“We wanted to choose a local company to supply and fit our kitchen (we live in Broadstairs) and visited the the showroom in Canterbury and knew that we wanted a heritage design as opposed to a modern one in order to reflect the Victorian era of the house. Our ceilings are 9 feet in height and we wanted to maximise that space.

We wanted a kitchen designed to fit the space around the original architecture of arches, ornate side doors, and serving hatch. Our house was once a nursery school and has long rooms which were used for ballet lessons so everything had to go longways when we first moved in. We knew that we wanted an island in the middle to square off the space once we had removed half of the adjoining kitchen/dining room wall. The Kitchen is also North facing so we wanted to get as much as possible in to the space without being too invasive.”

“We bought our house 6 years ago and have been slowly renovating and updating ever since. The original kitchen units were dated, it had a tiny oven which broke after 2 weeks and the sink leaked. We really wanted to be able to eat at a table that looked out on the garden which was impossible given the the length and width of the rooms. We also wanted to connect the kitchen and dining room. We knew that this would be the most challenging and costly project and the process of idea to installation and completion has taken 2 years.

Take your time - see as many kitchens as you can. Ask friends/family who have had new kitchens fitted about what they might have done differently. Sometimes you need to really live in a space before you really know how you’re going to use it. It’s important to have what you want but when you start knocking down walls, installing windows or blocking up doors, the space and light can look different to how you imagined it. Try to be flexible along the way and don’t be afraid to make changes.”

The Design

The design includes a main run of bottom and wall cabinetry, a kitchen island looking out into the garden, and two large double larder units, all in our ‘Westminster’ range of bespoke cabinetry.

“When we first viewed our house, we fell in love with the original floor to ceiling oak dresser which the previous owners had painted a lovely blue/green. We knew that we wanted to base the kitchen design and colour on this beautiful dresser. We found a near enough exact colour match through Mylands which was great. We knew pretty much from the outset what colours we wanted but made a change late on to have the pantry cabinetry in black which we’re really pleased with.”

The Westminster cabinetry is our most traditional Shaker style cabinet range, yet can be made to look and feel more modern depending on colours & handles due to it’s more clean, less decorative frame.

A lovely detail in this project is the tongue & groove panelling behind the induction hob, ends of the kitchen island and side panels of the larder units. This detail combined with the double Belfast sink, oak worktop, burnished brass handles and gorgeous hard-wood floors creates a really warm and inviting, almost nostalgic feeling to the kitchen.

“My favourite part of the kitchen is the floor to ceiling double pantry which houses our washer, dryer, toaster and microwave and food cupboard items.. and the spice rack is a thing of beauty. It saves so much space and looks so smart.”

The Details: Colours, Handles & Worktops

For their colours, our clients choose a beautiful combination of ‘Cotton Street’ on the main run, and ‘Long Acre’ on the island and panelling behind the hob. A bold and modern move was taken by painted the larder units a jet black colour, ‘Downing Street’; all from Mylands. The soft blue and stark white combo is a sweet nod to the family’s seaside home.

For their worktops, a combination of solid oak and quartz were chosen. Using the white quartz, ‘Blanco Orion’ by Silestone, on the kitchen island is both a practical choice as well as an aesthetic one. Due to the placement of the sink, quartz was a smart choice as to avoid water damage while the white colour reflects light and makes the space feel more open and large.

The inside of the cabinetry is all in the same gorgeous oak as the worktop, with custom spice-racks and traditional zig-zag shelving in the larders, as well as dovetail drawers.

The kitchen’s hardware is all in a antique looking, burnished brass finish enhancing this kitchen’s traditional charm (this lovely arch below helps too!) A combination of cup pulls, bun knobs and pull handles is a sure-fire way of creating interest in layers and texture.

The Workshop & Making Your Dream Kitchen

Every part of your kitchen is hand crafted carefully and with great pride in our workshop just a 5 minute drive from our studio. We are a team of perfectionists with a love for quality materials and excellent craftmanship. The workshop is a place open to all who want to visit and see the kitchen making process. If you would like to pay the guys at the workshop a visit and see them in action, speak to your designer and arrange a date!

On Using Herringbone

“Our journey with herringbone kitchens was interrupted by the first lockdown so the project was delayed due to builder availablity for 6 months but we hung on and I’m glad we did. I would describe our herringbone journey as friendly, professional, accommodating, expert, painstaking attention to detail.”

-Nicola, Broadstairs

We loved working on this beautiful kitchen project and wish the family a lifetime of joy with their new kitchen.